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Offered citizenship and a better life, Cuban ‘mercenaries’ join the fight against Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

What César really wanted was to get out of Cuba. A bartender struggling to make ends meet in Havana, he tried last year to reach Miami in a rickety boat but was forced to abandon the attempt when he was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard.He’s now preparing a second escape attempt: with a direct flight to Moscow. His ticket has been paid for by a Russian recruiter but it comes with a hefty price tag nonetheless: As part of the deal, he will have to join the Russian army and fight in Ukraine.“If this is the sacrifice I have to make for my family to get ahead, I’ll do it,”  said César, who turned 19 this year and whose name has been changed to protect his identity.“You can be a nuclear physicist and still die of hunger here,” he said. “With my current salary I can barely buy basic things like toilet paper or milk.” He said he hoped he would be allowed to work as a paramedic.The news of Cuban fighters in Ukraine splashed across global headlines earlier this month when Havana annou...

Tentative deal reached to end the Hollywood writers strike. No deal yet for actors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Union leaders and Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday to end a historic screenwriters strike after nearly five months, though no deal is yet in the works for striking actors.The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a statement.The three-year contract agreement — settled on after five marathon days of renewed talks by negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and an alliance of studios, streaming services and production companies — must be approved by the guild’s board and members before the strike officially ends.The terms of the deal were not immediately announced. The tentative deal to end the last writers strike, in 2008, was approved by more than 90% of members.As a result of the agreement, nightly network shows including NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” could return to the air within days.But as writers prepare to potentially crack open their laptops again, it’s far f...

Tentative deal reached to end Hollywood writer's strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

Hollywood studios and screenwriters have reached a tentative deal to end the nearly five-month-long strike that has largely shuttered production of film and television in the world's entertainment hub. Negotiation meetings between the sides have made considerable progress in recent weeks, which may be attributed to the presence of four top executives: Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos.Nearly 20,000 writers have been without work or pay since May 2 as negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, halted over the summer. In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Sunday night, officials with the WGA said:"The WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement. This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who stood with us for over 146 days....

North Korea calls South’s leader a ‘guy with a trash-like brain’ as it slams his UN speech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Monday called South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol “a guy with a trash-like brain” and “a diplomatic idiot” as it blasted him for using a U.N. speech to issue a warning over the North’s deepening military ties with Russia.In a speech at the U.N. General Assembly last week, Yoon said South Korea “will not sit idly by” if North Korea and Russia agree to weapons deals that would pose a threat to the South.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia earlier this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites raised international concern about a possible push by North Korea to receive sophisticated nuclear and weapons technologies in return for replenishing Russia’s conventional arms inventory depleted by its war with Ukraine.“Puppet traitor Yoon Suk Yeol, even at the 78th U.N. General Assembly, malignantly slandered the relations between (North Korea) and Russia,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agen...

Student athletes from around Chicagoland take part in winter coat drive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

CHICAGO — Winter is approaching and student-athletes from around the Chicago area are doing their part to make sure families have warm coats for the cold months ahead."It feels great being able to help the community, help people around me through soccer, and with my teammates, as well as other people from all around the state. It feels great," volunteer Peyton Johnson said. 12 buses carrying migrants arrive in Chicago over the weekend The student-athletes, with the help of the group Buddy's Helpers, collected thousands of winter coats and loaded the gear into a U-Haul headed for distribution to families in Cicero."We have families that are going through bad situations, hard situations, hardships," Ismael Vargas, the Cicero police and fire chaplain said.Vargas says the donation will go a long way to help people who are unhoused as the town deals with ongoing issues from the devastating flooding over the summer."It's a blessing as we can come and see all these young people not only...

Brandon Baker, top ranked OL in 2024 recruiting class, commits to Texas Longhorns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns landed a verbal commitment from one of the best offensive linemen in the country Sunday night.Brandon Baker, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound tackle out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, announced his commitment to the Longhorns live on 247Sports' YouTube channel. He's a 5-star recruit and the top-rated offensive lineman in the 2024 recruiting class according to the 247Sports composite ratings. He chose Texas over Florida State, Oregon, Nebraska and Ohio State. AP Top 25: Texas stays at No. 3, Kansas moves into poll ahead of DKR visit "The trajectory they are on, headed to the SEC next year, that's big boy ball," Baker said during the announcement. "They recently beat Alabama and I can see them winning the national championship in the next two years."Baker said he felt "pretty good" about Texas after he took his official visit and said he told offensive line coach Kyle Flood and head coach Steve Sarkisian about 30 minutes before he made hi...

Bush, AOC attend autoworkers rally in Wentzville

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

WENTZVILLE, Mo. – A St. Louis representative and a congressional colleague attended a big union rally in Wentzville on Sunday to show their support for striking autoworkers.“Seventy-five percent of the people support you. I’m on your side; we’re on your side; that’s why we’re fighting to pass the PRO Act," Representative Cori Bush (D-Missouri) said.As thousands of autoworkers are out on strike, Congresswomen Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez let autoworkers know they stand with them.“When the Big Three don’t want to take the value of their workers seriously, then they have given workers no other option but to force them to value their labor," Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-New York) said.Sunday's list of speakers at the rally included Brandon Campbell, the Region 4 director of UAW. He said the biggest concern for members is pay. Think twice before buying something from Temu “Over the last four years—just four years—inflation is up 20%, but the cost of a new vehicl...

How close is new fire board to providing Hazelwood financial relief?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

HAZELWOOD, Mo. – A citizens group successfully took over the Robertson Fire Protection District in Hazelwood, saying they’d provide the city with financial relief. But it’s unclear when Hazelwood will actually get that break.“Well, as of right now, until we have achieved a chance to go through all of our finances and see everything that needs to be repaired, all the equipment in the vehicles that needs to be updated, we don’t really have the money at the moment to cut for Hazelwood,” Jennifer Guyton, the fire district’s new president, said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News SIGN UP NOW Hazelwood is paying the Robertson Fire Protection District $4.5 million a year, the same as under the old fire board.“Well, we weren’t necessarily doing this to give a...

Quick start helps Sharks top Vegas Golden Knights in preseason opener

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

SAN JOSE – The Sharks scored three goals on their first six shots of the preseason and earned a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at SAP Center.Defenseman Henry Thrun had three points in the first period, including a goal just 24 seconds in as his wrist shot from just inside the blue line got past Golden Knights goalie Jiri Patera.Thrun also assisted on Tomas Hertl’s goal at the 9:03 mark of the first period and scored on another shot from the point on a power play with 40 seconds left before intermission, helping the Sharks win their exhibition season opener before an announced crowd of 9,785.Forward Nathan Todd and defenseman Kyle Burroughs also scored for San Jose, which, like Vegas, only dressed a handful of players who are still expected to be in the NHL when the two teams meet Oct. 12 in the regular season opener.Starting goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, in his second full season with the Sharks, made 32 saves, including 19 in the first two periods. Kahkonen is expected to...

How SF Giants’ playoff chances evaporated over disastrous 10-game road trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES — When the Giants embarked on this trip 10 days ago, they were firmly in the playoff race.Riding high off a 5-1 homestand, their postseason odds, according to FanGraphs, stood at 47.5%. As recently as the last day of August, their chances were as high as 67.1%. Walked off Sunday night by the Dodgers, 3-2, they had fallen to 0.2% by the time they boarded their charter flight home.It was their eighth loss in 10 games on this disastrous trip, and it played out similarly to many of their previous 78. There wasn’t a pitcher who completed five innings, the little offense they produced came on one swing of the bat, and they left the bases loaded twice, including in the top of the ninth when Mitch Haniger went down swinging.“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to work hard, get better and help the team win, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to come through in situations like that,” said Haniger, whose batting average fell to a career-worst .2...